This year has been all about interdisciplinary works. This is a direction that I have always wanted to explore, and I cannot be happier to have found people that will help me in this new path. Stay tuned!

Working on the short film Outer Space, by Peter Tscherkassky, put the research I am doing on visual music on a new level. Even without soundtrack, this film provides a sonic experience through rhythm, noise, and dynamic of the visual. Composing a music that could add a layer of complexity to the already stand-alone work has been maybe the greatest challenge I faced within the past years. The flow of information received by the eye is so overwhelming that not surrendering to a mere audio-visual synchronization has been a constant fight that I kept losing. So I simply decided to empower it instead, integrating not only the music, but the musicians themselves to the film.

The piece is a commission of the Darmstadt Summer Course for the amazing Ensemble NIKEL, and will be played in Darmstadt (20 July 2018), Utrecht, as part of Gaudeamus Muziekweek (7 September 2018), and in Lausanne (4 March 2019). I hope to see you there!

I just came back home after spending three weeks in Munich for the set up and world première of my latest work, skull ark, upturned with no mast. Working on this project taught me more that I could imagine. I did something I had never done before, and I am happy with the result and all the risks I’ve taken.
I want to thank Anna Kubelìk, for building my instrument; Eva G. Alonso, for being absolutely the best light designer of all times, and for the long night shifts; Chris Swithinbank, for solving every problem, and for creating the most magical environment; and the four performers, Emma Iannotta, Karin Hellqvist, Truike van der Poel, and Johanna Zimmer, for being open to realise all my requests — even the craziest ones, like “don’t blink”.
Big shout out also to Laura Martegani and Paolo Mariangeli, for being with us all the time, with their positivity, and hard work.

In February, filmmaker Johannes List visited me in Berlin to produce this short portrait video for the prize ceremony of the Ernst von Siemens Komponistenpreis, which I was awarded at the beginning of May. I am so grateful for the support of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung. We are currently working on a new CD of my recent works for large ensemble and orchestra for release next year. I can’t wait to share them with you!

It is a great honor to be awarded the Ernst von Siemens Composers’ Prize 2018.
This prize enables me to take the time I need to compose, think, and make careful decisions. It releases some of the pressure this job builds, and allows me to slow down. I could not be thankful enough for being given this enormous privilege.

Much gratitude to the Festival d’Automne, who commissioned the piece, to the Ernst von Siemens Foundation and the Proquartet Association for their support, and to Jan Bernstein, who built the buzzing machines.

Last year I had the privilege of recording my piano trio Il colore dell’ombra with Longleash during a residency at the Experimental Media and Performing Art Center (EMPAC).
It was pure joy! Jeffrey Svatek and Todd Vos, our sound engineers, took great care of the music, and I could not ask for better conditions.
Pala Garcia, John Popham, and Renate Rohlfing, my dear friends of Longleash, are releasing their debut album, Passage, on September 22, 2017. The CD, coming out on New Focus Recordings, includes works by Christopher Trapani, Yukiko Watanabe, Juan De Dios Magdaleno, Francesco Filidei, and myself.